My Favorite Records of 2012

In the January 2013 issue of Stereophile, I list my 15 favorite records of the year (p.53). Here is an expanded, slightly more detailed list.

Note: Due to the timing restrictions of our January 2013 issue, which went to press in the beginning of November, this list is mostly limited to records that were released through October 15, 2012: There are probably another dozen or so LPs that would have otherwise made this listKendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Andy Stott’s Luxury Problems are two that would have certainly been in my top 15but will instead find a place on my 2013 list.

1. Swans: The Seer (LP, Young God YG45)

I’d known about Swans forever, and while I was often curious about their work, for some reason, I’d never actually listened to them until this, The Seer, their 12th full-length album. A part of me wonders why I waited so long, but, ultimately, I think that an artist, or a piece of art, sometimes has a way of entering our lives at just the right moment. When that happenswhen art and context seem perfectly suited to one anotherwe experience that art as a truly memorable work, a masterpiece. That’s what The Seer is for mea powerful, unsettling, and beautiful masterpiece, perfectly suited to its time in my life. I’m now motivated to explore the band’s entire catalog, and I’m looking forward to the journey.

2. Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (CD, Def Jam 001578802)

When it comes to music, Ms. Little and I have nothing in common. Except for Frank Ocean. While The Seer is the 2012 album that hit me hardest, Channel Orange is the album that most readily and reliably got me on my feet, dancing, singing, and laughing. This is funky, intelligent, and adventurous R&Bthoroughly modern, youthful, and surprisingly sophisticated. Frank Ocean is an enormous talent.

3. Drake: Take Care (LP, Universal Republic 001613502)

When it comes to music, Ms. Little and I have nothing in common. Except for Frank Ocean. And Drake. I blame my girlfriend for my obsession with this former teen idol, but, really, I was hooked from the moment I heard “Headlines.” The ease and grace with which Drake moves between sung and rapped lyrics, matched with Noah "40" Shebib's understated, expert production, make for consistently compelling listening. Take Care also features significant contributions from Jaime “XX” Smith, Stevie Wonder, Rihanna, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, and Gil Scott-Heron, among others, and includes a remarkable cameo (“Buried Alive”) from the brilliant young rapper, Kendrick Lamar. An awesome album from beginning to end.

Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland (individually and together as Hype Williams) are two of today’s most polarizing and confounding artists. They’re mysterious, silly, weird, and at times purposefully obtuse; and their music, while often difficult, messy, and ugly, is also some of the most adventurous and rewarding I’ve experienced. Its insights come in blinks, when I’m least prepared, when I’ve almost given up, leaving me with no choice but to listen again and again. Happily, each listen reveals new treats and keeps me coming back for more.

Black is Beautiful is a success, but Dean Blunt’s solo mixtape, The Narcissist II, feels more important, more desperate, more lustful, disturbing, coherent and compelling. Listening to it is like eavesdropping on a deeply troubled relationship, one that was built on passion, but too quickly dissolved into codependency, addiction, and abuse. It’s horrible and terrifying, yet, as work of art, it’s gripping, fragile, beautifula noise rock bastardization of deep funk music.

Originally released as a mixtape and available as a free download, The Narcissist II has now received a proper, limited-edition vinyl release through Hippos In Tanks. Get it while you can. I think you’ll see this one on my 2013 list, too.

5. Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes (LP, Warp WARP230)

If Flying Lotus’ 2010 album, Cosmogramma, soared ambitiously outward, up and up into the heavens (and it did), then this follow-up turns deeply inward, sounding like the music of dreams, fairytales, and childhood fantasies; and, while Cosmogramma was sometimes distractingly dense and showy, Until the Quiet Comes is far more subtle, spacious, and modest, but no less compelling.

6a. Grizzly Bear: Shields (LP, Warp WARP229)

Grizzly Bear hone the beautiful sound they first demonstrated with 2009’s wonderful Veckatimest, somehow seeming simultaneously jubilant and sorrowful. Emotive but never cloying, artful but never artificial, the music moves in bold, graceful leaps and turns and is filled with gorgeous, thoughtful texture and detail. Lovely stuff.

6b. Sharon Van Etten: Tramp (LP, Jagjaguwar JAG201)

I regrettably forgot to include Tramp in the print version of my year-end list, so I’ve included it here. This Jersey girl is beautiful, charming, talented, and has a pure, powerful voice and remarkable way with words, able to communicate the depth and power of everyday events and encounters. The LP tells a good story, but her live performance is one you’ll never forget. See her next spring when she opens for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

7. Lorn: Ask the Dusk (LP, Ninja Tune ZEN187)

Daniel had Ask the Dusk spinning one evening in Other Music, and it kept distracting me from the task at hand, until I realized that it was exactly what I was looking for: Heavy, dark, and dirty, with memorable electronic beats and riffs.

8. Mohn: Mohn (LP, Kompakt 258)

High Water Sounds’ Jeffrey Catalano introduced me to Mohn at some hi-fi show, and while I can hardly remember that show, I certainly remember the feeling created by this albumby turns disorienting and soothing, always hypnotic and alluring.

9. David Byrne & St. Vincent: Love This Giant (LP, 4AD 3231)

David Byrne, St. Vincent, and an awesome horn section add up to sophisticated harmonies, sweet melodies, and intelligent songwriting. This is easy to love, accessible and rewarding. Great sound, too.

10. AtomTM: Winterreise (CD, Rater-Noton R-N140)

After reading an interview with the eccentric Uwe Schmidt in The Wire (May 2012), I kinda had to buy everything he’d ever recorded. Worked out well for me. AtomTM’s Winterreise is pristinely recorded and apparently includes fragments of Schubert, which makes sense: The work is heavily romantic, charming, melancholic but playful.

11. Dan Deacon: America (LP, Domino DNO319)

I’m a sucker for big themes, and they don’t get much bigger than America. Right? I like playing this one back-to-back with Fahey’s 1971 masterwork, the latter quiet, brooding, almost mournful; the former indulgent, excessive, filled with major-chord ecstasy; both of them exactly right.

12. Laurel Halo: Quarantine (LP, Hyperdub HDB014)

It was late at night in Ottawa and I was in my hotel room, winding down after a long day at the NRC, when Laurel Halo’s Quarantine came streaming from my laptop. As soon as I heard Halo’s voicea voice that sounded almost afraid of itself, uncertain, newbornI knew I had to have this record.

13. XX: Coexist (LP, XL 46-080)

I came late to the XX and vowed I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I enjoy this record, but honestly not as much as I had hoped I would. A band that was already impressively mature and restrained now sorta sound as if they’ve taken one step too many toward the Adult Contemporary racks, but, still: I adore the space, the mood, the beats and riffs.

14. Eric Chenaux: Guitar & Voice (LP, Constellation CST088)

Simply and perfectly titled, this album immediately bowled me over with its expert guitar work and its sensuous songwriting. Chenaux is always inventive and often virtuosic, and I love his explorations into rural blues and torch songs. And, like just about everything from Constellation, Guitar & Voice is carefully recorded and beautifully packaged.

Well. That’s a lot of records. I certainly love music and feel some great, irrational pull to hear as much of it as I possibly can, and, while I managed to listen to more new music this year than ever, I still feel an annoying regret and frustration over all the records I failed to hear. And yes, doctor, “fail” is an interesting choice of word.

I guess, for now at least, this is simply a part of being me. I suspect this condition is not unique, and that I may someday overcome it. I’ll look forward to that day, endeavoring to listen to fewer records while forming a stronger connection with, and understanding of, those records that I do enjoy.

Before I get “serious” about that, though, please feel free to share your own favorites in the Comments section and send me to the record store in search of all those records I missed. Thanks!

2. FlyLo: his best arrangments yet, in terms of his tactful using of silence vs. beat dropping and off-kilter samples to propel momentum of the track; while not every track is perfect, we see FlyLo turning into a master of his craft.

3. Lorn: his jazz influence creeps in and makes his industrial house and grime organic and woody

4. David Byrne and St. Vincent: I think RB puts it perfectly. It's all about those horns!

Not making my list:

1. Frank Ocean: the only good songs on that record are the buttery "Thinkin Bout You" and the Stevie Wonder rip-off "Sweet Life" -- past that, the best part of the record is the Playstation sound at the beginning.

1. Frank Ocean: the only good songs on that record are the buttery "Thinkin Bout You" and the Stevie Wonder rip-off "Sweet Life" -- past that, the best part of the record is the Playstation sound at the beginning.

I only recognize the names of a handful of artists or albums on your list and have actually heard even fewer. And that's a GREAT thing. Audio writing is all too often left in the hands of people who think music stopped being written and recorded sometime in the seventies. We need to hear from more people like you and Ariel who are still exploring new voices; some will be great and you will love them for years; some of them will have you wondering what you were thinking when you look back a year or ten years from now. The main thing is to keep exploring and don't heed the negative comments that inevitably follow posting any list like this one. Keep listening with an open mind.

Stephen, without a shadow of a doubt, your 20 something Jersey City self is far more with-it and cool compared to this 53 year old midwesterner and father of two college boys. I have tried some of the records you have touted and uh, I don't have the same tastes. I sure do enjoy your writing though. I don't pretend that my favorites for '12 have any significance whatsoever and granted, I have not even heard of many of your listed releases, let alone having heard the content. But my list is;

James Mercer's (he is The Shins after all) Port of Morrow is my numero uno for '12. Why is hard to explain. There is nothing particularly exciting about it perhaps, but it has good staying power. It is well crafted without being too well crafted if that makes any sense.

Django Django. Buy the French pressing if you can find it. My number 2. Lots of really fresh stuff.

Speakiing of fresh, Firewater, baby!!! Firewater's Agent Orange will get you dancing. Guaranteed.

Fiona Apple's "Idler Wheel.............................." (elongated elipses intentional and necessary). You don't experience this, you take it in, like James Joyce's Ulyses, and hope you can slowly absorb it. Shame on you young Stephen for not being onto the importance of this. Shame, shame, shame.

The sophomore jinx hit XX hard and the new Mumford and Sons might as well be called a sophomore flop too.

I don't particularly care for Jack White but Blunderbuss can't be ignored.

After that, things trail off a bit. Being twice your age, I have to give honorable mentions to Alejandro Escovedo's Big Station and Aimee Mann's Charmers and be sure to give the unestimable Rosie Flores' new release, Working Girl's Guitar a try. And for something truly fun and different, give a listen to Reverand Peyton's Between the Ditches. Every one of these is on vinyl. I don't buy anything that is not available on vinyl.

And I thought I listened to a lot of music;) I'd add Wild Nothing's Nocturne to your list, which I think I picked up here via one of your posts. That album reminds of all those great bittersweet 80's British bands I grew up listening to. Love the Flying Lotus and Grizzly Bear too. So much music, so little time....

Thanks for posting Stephen, you always have an interesting collection. It is a ton of albums that would take me almost another year to get through (seeing as I only own about three of them).

Not much of a fan of Frank Ocean (I first thought he was Billy Ocean's kid). Only saw his SNL performance and it ranked up there with Lana Del Ray's as one of the worst that I have ever seen.

Drake, I think is awful, but that's just me.

My favorite thing with your list is looking for the albums I may have missed. I'd really like to hear David Byrne & St. Vincent: Love This GiantI like her work and I've also heard good things about the Cat Power record. I will pick my way through the rest and hopefully find a few more to enjoy into the new year.

Thought it was good but not great. Could have partly because CBC Radio played Hold On every freakin' morning for the entire summer; its not the only song on the record. I know it was the hit, but CBC is supposed to play stuff other than the hits.

Hey C! It's always great to hear from you. Thanks for sharing your list. There's a lot of stuff there that I need to check out; I was really impressed by what I heard of Michael Kiwanuka -- super soulful and groovy.

I think you'll enjoy both the David Byrne/St. Vincent and Cat Power records, though, in my opinion, the latter isn't as well produced or consistently solid as some of her earlier work.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy holidays to you and your family and friends.

if you and your girl don't gel on the same kind of music, how do you find time to listen to your albums?

Lately -- and I think this is a trend that will continue for a while -- I've been listening a lot through headphones, as I'm still fine-tuning the sound of the new room. But I do almost all of my "serious" listening during nights and weekends, and when my girlfriend is out.

Great list. Thanks for sharing it. I forgot about Four Tet's Pink! I LOVE that record, but I don't actually own it -- I had purchased several of the 12-inch singles prior to the full-length release and was hoping that Pink, released as a download only, would be released on a physical format. I'm still holding out hope for a full-length vinyl edition.

Thanks -- I'm glad you enjoy the column. But I really think there are several types of music listed here -- something for everyone, I hope. If you give me an idea of what you like, I'd try to offer a recommendation.

Stephen, my most heartfelt thanks for all these reviews. In the past you've helped me find a lot of great new music.

But sometimes you don't really do the most basic things a reviewer should do. In your review of Atom's Winterreise, for example, you describe the mood, and mention that it includes fragments of Schubert. But, excuse me--Is is rock? Electronic? Classical? Instrumental? Vocal? I would like to be able to tell from your review what is actually on this CD, but can't really get the slightest clue. Please describe for us in more concrete terms what we'll be hearing, to help us find some direction in looking for music we might like.

But again, thanks. I wish Stereophile had more people like you who made so many contributions about the music as well as the equipment.

With this piece, I didn't intend to write proper reviews of any of the albums, although I have reviewed many of them in our print issues. I only intended this to be a list. And I think the best way for anyone to understand the music is to listen; for this particular blog post, I'd rather people not be turned off by genres.

However, Atom's Winterreise is mostly very sparse electronic music, mostly lacking vocals, somewhat in the ambient / modern classical vein. If you're curious, you can find more info and listen to samples at Forced Exposure and Boomkat -- two of my favorite places on the Web.

Swans album was my favorite of the year as well. Glad to see good taste stretching to the audiophile realm (of course Im young at 28, which is prob why I loved your list). I was a little surprised to not see Bat For Lashes album on your list considering your taste, the song Laura alone moved it into my top 25 for the year and also give the Fiona Apple album a chance. Its great. And your right about the Andy Stott album, its incredible and unfortunate it couldnt be in your this year list. Here's some I loved that werent on your list that are similar tastes,

Thank you, tjeven, and thanks for sharing your own list. There are lots of records there that I've been meaning to check out; hopefully, I'll get to a few (if not most) of them in 2013. I'm also a big fan of Julia Holter, and her Ekstasis was a big part of my year. Her live show (I saw her in an extremely cramped, hot Other Music) was also captivating and charming.

I keep hearing positive things about the Fiona Apple record, and my girlfriend is a fan of Fiona Apple's early stuff, so I think I'll have to pick up the new one.

I contribute a more formal review of Andy Stott's Luxury Problems in our upcoming March 2013 issue.